Roll-in bulkhead

ABSTRACT

A manually positioned and rollable bulkhead including ratchet type restraining strap takeup devices to secure the bulkhead between the side walls of a railway vehicle so as to confine and restrain a load.

United States Patent 11 1 Adler 1 1 Oct. 2, 1973 [54] ROLL-IN BULKHEAD2,752,864 7 1956 McDougal, s1. filal 105 376 1,833,016 11 1931 Ch dl 105369 s [75] Inventor: Franklin P. Adler, M1ch1gan Guy, 3 559 591 2x97] ji05/369 D 3,290,010 12 1966 Holmes 105 369 A 3,477,392 11 1969 Loomis61a]. 105 369 D [73] Asslgnee' gullman 229 i 'l' 2,226,373 12/1940 Frear105 369 A 2,738,204 3 1956 Ibey 105 369 A 22 il M 21 1971 3,428,3312/l969 Morgan et al. 105/369 A 3,508,502 4/1970 Sims 105/369 A [21]Appl. No.: 145,830

US. Cl .105/376, 105/369 A, 105/369 5 1111. C1 860p 7/14 Field of'Search105/369 A, 369 D, 105/376 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1958Tobin 105/369 A Primary ExaminerDrayton E. Hoffman Attorney-Hilmond O.Vogel and Richard J. Myers ABSTRACT 6' Claims, 6 Drawing Figures FIG.2

' INVENTOR.

FRANKLIN P. ADLER PATENT AGENT Pmzmeuw' 3.762.341

SHEET 3 [IF 3 FRANKLIN P. ADLER a 4 BY (2 ull PATENT AGENT 1 ROLL-INBULKHEAD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION heads which are used to restrainthe cargo within a railway freight car.

2. Description of the prior art Prior art load bracing and dividingdevices or bulkheads are generally large and bulky and require auxiliarymounting and supporting devices within the railway vehicle. Also,portable bulkheads have had the effect of being expensive andheavy,'therefore requiring additional positioning and lifting devices tomove the bulkhead into its operative position. The present inventionprovides a lightweight portable bulkhead which may be manually liftedand rolled into position on existing freight cars without the additionof any customized auxiliary mounting or bracing equipment being added tothe interior of a freight carrying vehicle.

, SUMMARY The nature of this invention pertains to a portable bulkheadwhich may be placed in a box car as a load divider and 'restrainer. Theedges of the bulkhead are provided with takeup devices which includestraps attachable to anchors recessed within the inner sides of the car.Rollers attached at the bottom portion of the itate lifting the bulkheadfrom a trackside position into the railway vehicle a pair of openingsare provided in the bulkhead to permit insertion of lifting arms of aforklift truck which may be used to lift the bulkhead onto the car. v vIt is an object of the present invention to provide a portable rollingbulkhead having securing devices at its outer edges.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a portablebulkhead mounted on rollers to facilitate moving the bulkhead intoposition on the railway vehicle.

Additionally it is an object of the present invention to provide abulkhead having ratchet type takeup devices at its outer edges whichreceive straps extending from strap anchors inthe walls of the vehicleand which are then tensioned by gathering of the strap onto a spool.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bulkhead whichismanually positionable and includes lifting and holding. portionstofacilitate, ease of handling.

' These and other objects of the invention will become apparent fromreference to the following description, attached drawings and appendedclaims.

the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial of the bulkhead of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a view taken transversely of the railway vehicle and showingwall mounted anchor and the ratchet takeup mechanism involved in thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view with parts in section of the device illustrated inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view taken along lines 66 of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to FIG. 1 where there is illustrateda portion of the railway freight car employing the present invention, itis noticed that the railway vehicle 10 includes the usual floor 12, sidewall units 14 and roof structure 16. A center sill 18 extends betweentruck members 20 and functions in a supportive manner. The side wallunits 14 are of a double thickness comprising an inner side wall 22 andan outer side wall 24. The inner and outer side walls 22, 24respectively generally comprise a thin metallic sheet type ofconstruction which is light in weight and durable while providing anintegrally sound and strong side wall unit. The inner side wall 22includes a plurality of cutouts 26 which are conveniently spaced alongthe side wall unit and provide mounting and access means for a ladingholddown strap anchor assembly 28 which is accessed through the cutout26. 2 a

I The strap attaching anchor assembly 28 includes a mounting plate 30 asbest illustrated in FIG." 6. The plate 30 includes openings 31 intowhich a filler metal is placed for securing the plate 30 to the outerside wall 24 as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Also included in thelading strap anchor assembly 28 is a strap guide member 32 which aids insecuring-the bulkhead tie down strap33. A retainer cord 33a is fastenedto the rivet type securing member 33b and to the end of loop 'portion33c. As illustrated in FIG. 6 when the strap 33 is threaded around andunder the U-shaped tie down member 34 having leg portions 36, the rivet33b is inserted into the loop 33c-to secure the strap in the strapanchor assembly 28.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the portable bulkhead40 of the presentinvention is positioned transversely of the railway' vehicle 10 andfunctions to divide and restrain cartons 42 within the freight vehicleto protect the cartons from shifting which. can result in their damage.The bulkhead 40 comprises preferably a pair of adjacent sheets ofplywood 44 spaced from one another to permit manual handling of thebulkhead after final assembly. The plywood sheets 44are attached toandsupported by the reinforcing members 46 which extend substantially theentire width of the members 44 and include at their end portionsaccumulating and tensioning means 48 which gather an associated tie downstrap 33. 7

As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the portable bulkhead may include asecond set of plywood sheets 44a which are positioned after the bulkheadis secured into posi- I tion. The sheets 44a are used to provide asmooth surface for abutting lading since irregular surfaces have beenknown to cause lading to become caught or hung up and damaged. Sheets44a may contain openings 44b to make them lesssubject to pilferage.

The accumulating or tensioning means 48 includes a strap gatheringassembly having a movable spool 50 with a central portion 52 about whichis gatheredthe strap 33. Extending parallel with and spaced from thecentral portion 52 is a securing bar 56 which is used to initiallysecure the strap 33 to the spool of the ratchet member. A shaftextension portion 58 extends upward from the spool 50 through a slot 59in the reinforcing members 46. The top portion of the extension 58includes a head 60 which may be conveniently sized to receive a socketor a wrench for turning the spool to gather and tension the strap 33.

The spool 50 is mounted in and carried by the hatshaped mounting unit 62which comprises a plate member contoured to fit between verticallyspaced reinforcing members 46 and is retained in position by the screwfasteners 64 which may include a locknut 64a as best illustrated in FIG.5. Vertically spaced of the spool 50 are a pair of flat plate washers66,68. A round bar wear reducing member 57 is positioned at the outermargin of the mounting unit 62 (as best illustrated in FIG. 4) andspaces the strap from any sharp edges which would cause it to fray andproduce early failure.

A ratchet gear 70 forms one end of the spool 50 and includes a pluralityof ratchet teeth which are engaged by the pivoted detent 72 so as toallow one way locking rotation of the spool as the strap 33 istightened. The detent 72 is pivoted at 73 and biased by the helicalspring 74 which is positioned by the-spring retainer 76 which is securedto the mounting unit 62. The spring 74 is received within a socketportion 78 of the detent 72 to hold the spring in position as theratchet gear 70 is rotated. It is evident from the portion described andillustrated in FIG. 4 that to release the detent 72 from engagement withthe ratchet gear 70 the spring force is overcome by pushing on therelease portion 79 of the detent 72 causing the detent to pivot out ofengagementwith the ratchet gear 70 and thereby releasing tension fromthe strap 33.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it is noticed that the bulkhead 40 is mountedon a roller or wheel assembly 80 which includes wheels 82 mounted on acaster or framing unit 84 which is secured to a block unit 85 forattachment of the wheel assembly 80 to the bulkhead 40. The rollerassembly 80 permits ease of handling and makes the bulkhead trulyportable since it may be moved and positioned manually. As alsoillustrated in FIG. 2, the bulkhead includes a pair of spaced openings86 reinforced by the framing members 88 which openings are provided forinsertion of the lift members of a fork lift truck for lifting thebulkhead from trackside onto the railway freight car.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate theinvention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar asthe appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who havethe disclosure before them will be able to make modifications andvariations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A cargo restraining device for a railway freight vehicle andpositionable transversely of the vehicle, said vehicle also having sidewalls extending between spaced floor and roof units and having tie downanchor means contained therein, said restraining device ineludingattaching strap means and associated strap accumulating ratchet members,the improvement comprising:

sheet means forming bulkhead wall portion and also including a pluralityof vertically spaced and horizontally extending reinforcing framingmembers arranged in pairs and fixedly attached to said sheet means; saidrestraining device having end edge portions and mounting plate meansattached thereto thereby providing a mounting and attaching means forsaid strap accumulating ratchet members; said strap means beingpositioned adjacent the end edge portions and including flexible tiedown strap means having connecting portions receivable within said wallmounted tie down anchor means for fixedly securing the restrainingdevice in said transport vehicle; said strap accumulating ratchetmembers including spool means operatively and rotatably connected toattaching strap means, and a spool rotating extension protruding throughan adjacent horizontally extending reinforcing member and having anactuating head portion; said strap gathering spool means having aratchet gear portion and having a locking pawl means en- 'gageable withsaid ratchet gear of the spool means to thereby provide unidirectionalstrap tightening rotation of said spool means. 2. The inventionaccording to claim 1, and: said mounting plate means having a hat shapedcross section and including mounting leg portions attached to theframing members thereby affixing the strap accumulating ratchet membersflush with the associated reinforcing framing members. 3. The inventionaccording to claim 27, and: said ratchet member including a ratchet gearpositioned within the mounting plate means and forming an end of saidspool means; resilient biasing means urging said locking pawl intoengagement with said ratchet gear of the spool means. 4. The inventionaccording to claim 1, and: said strap means having a free end loopportion and an associated retainer member insertable into said loop tothereby lock the strap means onto the anchor means of an adjacentvehicle side wall. 5. The invention according to claim 1, and: rollersupport means attached to said restraining device and rotatable about anaxis transverse to the length of said restraining device to therebypermit rolling positioning of the restraining device within thetransport vehicle. 6. The invention according to claim 1, and: saidrestraining means having a pair of spaced openings positioned between apair of reinforcing framing members to thereby provide points for powerlifting of the restraining means.

1. A cargo restraining device for a railway freight vehicle andpositionable transversely of the vehicle, said vehicle also having sidewalls extending between spaced floor and roof units and having tie downanchor means contained therein, said restraining device includingattaching strap means and associated strap accumulating ratchet members,the improvement comprising: sheet means forming bulkhead wall portionand also including a plurality of vertically spaced and horizontallyextending reinforcing framing members arranged in pairs and fixedlyattached to said sheet means; said restraining device having end edgeportions and mounting plate means attached thereto thereby providing amounting and attaching means for said strap accumulating ratchetmembers; said strap means being positioned adjacent the end edgeportions and including flexible tie down strap means having connectingportions receivable within said wall mounted tie down anchor means forfixedly securing the restraining device in said transport vehicle; saidstrap accumulating ratchet members including spool means operatively androtatably connected to attaching strap means, and a spool rotatingextension protruding through an adjacent horizontally extendingreinforcing member and having an actuating head portion; said strapgathering spool means having a ratchet gear portion and having a lockingpawl means engageable with said ratchet gear of the spool means tothereby provide unidirectional strap tightening rotation of said spoolmeans.
 2. The invention according to claim 1, and: said mounting platemeans having a hat shaped cross section and including mounting legportions attacheD to the framing members thereby affixing the strapaccumulating ratchet members flush with the associated reinforcingframing members.
 3. The invention according to claim 27, and: saidratchet member including a ratchet gear positioned within the mountingplate means and forming an end of said spool means; resilient biasingmeans urging said locking pawl into engagement with said ratchet gear ofthe spool means.
 4. The invention according to claim 1, and: said strapmeans having a free end loop portion and an associated retainer memberinsertable into said loop to thereby lock the strap means onto theanchor means of an adjacent vehicle side wall.
 5. The inventionaccording to claim 1, and: roller support means attached to saidrestraining device and rotatable about an axis transverse to the lengthof said restraining device to thereby permit rolling positioning of therestraining device within the transport vehicle.
 6. The inventionaccording to claim 1, and: said restraining means having a pair ofspaced openings positioned between a pair of reinforcing framing membersto thereby provide points for power lifting of the restraining means.